Mark of Athena
by hrishikeshshekhar
Summary: Porphyrion threatens Hades to surrender his realm. If not, he will kill Nico. Seven travel to Rome clueless of what awaits them. Things go wrong when Rachael is abducted. Lots of adventure and a fight between Percy and Jason. Cool right
1. Chapter 1 Reunion

**I Don't Own Percy Jackson Unfortunately**

Chapter 1: REUNION Percy

The great Greek warship landed with a huge, enormous, ear splitting thud but I was not even distracted the slightest. I was focused on finding Annabeth but with no luck in all the sand blowing on our faces. This bothered the sentries even more. They already seemed agitated seeing the artillery the ship had but they kept their word, not even shooting an arrow towards it. Besides, if they wanted any harm, the conditions were perfect for an ambush. The smoke would mask campers and they could effortlessly overwhelm Camp Jupiter's defences with the arsenal of weapons they had loaded into the ship. Despite the likelihood that I would be executed today if anything went wrong even by mistake, I was eager to get it over and done with.

At a snail's pace the winding of the ship opened to reveal a demigod, probably Jason Grace I guessed because the second he stepped out, the astonished campers showered him with a huge round of applause. There was a great deal of cheering and lots of campers swarming around him shook hands with him, patted him on the back and congratulated him. Still trying to find Annabeth, I scanned the crowd for when I caught a glimpse of Reyna. Her eyes were twinkling filled with pleasure and delight. Still she didn't make her way towards Jason; instead she stood fixated where she was, waiting patiently. I marvelled at her composure, how she never portrayed any feelings so she could set an example as praetor.

Then without warning, the campers fell quiet as Jason raised his arms to silence them. Only then did it strike me how much power and control Jason had over Camp Jupiter and then it dread crept through me as I realized that he would want to retain his position as the praetor. Frankly, I didn't care but I was aware of the consequences it would lead to. If I backed down from the position without a fight, it would make me look like a coward and therefore the Greeks as cowards. I quickly dismissed the thought and reoccupied myself in finding Annabeth.

But my spirits lightened up a little as Annabeth made her way out of the ship. She represented herself as the leader of Camp Half-Blood. I couldn't contain myself anymore so I dashed after her and hugged her fiercely and everyone cheered. Behind Annabeth stood the boy Leo who called himself the supreme commander of the Argo 2. Well it was hard to imagine he was a son of Hephaestus because all the sons' of Hephaestus I have seen were huge with ripped muscles but if this guy was the total contradictory. Beside Leo stood a girl who I didn't recognise and I was utterly clueless us who her godly parent would be. Annabeth introduced her as Piper and explained she was a daughter of Aphrodite. I was so engrossed in talking to Annabeth that I didn't realise that everyone was getting restless. I motioned Jason to continue his speech.

Jason was a very persuasive person and could make anyone believe just about anything. He spoke in a confident voice and about how friendly and welcoming the Greeks were. He told that even when the Greeks discovered that he was roman they did not change their attitude towards him. He told them of Hera's plan to unite both camps against the giants and how it was the only hope if the gods were to prevail. Octavian who was thoroughly unconvinced tried to find every possible flaw in Jason's speech. He countered ferociously to anything that Jason claimed but at last, even he had to admit defeat. I was impressed with the skills Jason had as a speaker.

After Jason's speech, Reyna requested that Annabeth, Jason and I to meet her in her quarters as the Romans returned to their respective posts. After a 10 minute walk, we reached Reyna's quarters. Reyna was already sitting in a sofa next to Aurum and Argentum. When she saw us approaching, she quickly chained Aurum and Argentum.

"Take a seat please" said Reyna.

Annabeth positioned herself opposite to Reyna so she could listen easily to Reyna. Jason sat uncomfortably close to Reyna without any other place to sit in.

So I said "What are we going to do with Octavian?"

"It's possible he's a spy for Gaea" Jason pointed out.

"But if we take action without evidence, it could lead to a civil war" countered Reyna.

"Who is this Octa...head? Is he the skinny guy who kept arguing with Jason? " enquired Annabeth.

"Octavian. Yeah, he's the one but believe me when I say he's more trouble than he looks" I warned.

"For now, I think it is best we stay put but still keep an eye on him. If he does anything suspicious, then we can execute him" said Reyna.

Nobody objected so the decision was made. The silence clearly indicated that the audience with Reyna was over so I decide to give Annabeth a tour of the city. I couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she sets her eyes on the city. So I swiftly found a suitable pair of jeans and a purple camp Jupiter shirt and offered her a tour.

"That's really sweet of you but Seeweed Brain but I'm feeling really sleepy after all that time on the ship" she said.

She must have noticed me disappointed because she kissed me. On the cheek. I know, but I was satisfied.

"Ok. But come to me first thing when you wake up" I told her.

She agreed and silently made her way to the room she was assigned to by Reyna.


	2. Chapter 2 Betrayel

Chapter 2 : Betrayal Jason

Just as I was about to depart, Reyna spoke up" You came back after all Jason". I was about to say _duh _or _obviously_ but something in Reyna's voice sounded wrong. I turned just in time to see Reyna wiping away a tear. She was crying! I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing so I stood there dumb folded, astonished by her appearance. I immediately felt a surge of protectiveness but I was clueless on how to comfort her. I had never seen her act this way. Reyna never cried no matter how dire the circumstances were, not when Krios nearly killed her, not when we faced the monster army nearly exterminated the Romans of camp Jupiter but now! I couldn't grasp it. But I instantaneously flung my arms around her. She didn't shrink away but she started sobbing again onto my T-shirt. It took some time but I finally convinced her to stop crying.

Just as I was about to leave, Reyna said "Sorry for disturbing you Jason. I shouldn't have behaved that way."

Now she was beginning to act like the old Reyna and I couldn't help a grin.

I told her politely that its fine and she had nothing to worry about. "Anyway, you want to join me to lunch cause I'm starving after my time in the ship." I asked, silently praying that she could.

She nodded and said "I'm hungry too. Why don't you show me your new friends too on the way huh" she asked pleadingly and I knew than nothing I said would have any effect on her. I agreed with a sigh just to make her feel that I was lazy to introduce her to Leo and of course Piper. But truth to be told, my brain was doing somersaults thinking of the million possibilities by which I could lose both Piper and Reyna today.

I emptied my mind and tried to think of anything to distract me from Piper and Reyna's fast approaching dispute. That was when I thought about my lost position as the praetor to Percy Jackson and I felt a pang of jealousy towards him. I was ready to do pretty much anything to retain it. Making up my mind to fight for it, I proceeded to the lunch table without enthusiasm. I sat in between both Reyna and Piper so that neither of them got suspicious and ate without taking part in the ongoing conversation between Piper and Reyna. I only introduced them to each other and to Leo and suddenly developed a great interest in my plate.

"So how long were you and Jason praetors?" asked Piper curiously.

"Well we became praetors at the same time so we both should have served as praetors for two years; if Jason did not disappear" replied Reyna with a pinch of regret.

"How do you get elected as praetors?" Piper asked genuinely confused.

"When we achieve a remarkable feat, we can be elected to be praetors" answered Reyna calmly

"What did Jason and you do "she asked.

"Jason defeated the Titan Krios single handed with a little help from me" she replied proudly.

I went cherry red at her comment and quickly said that I couldn't have defeated him without Reyna.

Now it was her turn to blush. She was about to say something when a blood curdling sound pierced through the atmosphere. And the second I heard it, I knew who it was; Annabeth. I hauled my gold coin out of my pocket and flipped it to acquire my imperial gold sword. The others were slower to react but I couldn't afford to wait for them because judging from the way Annabeth screamed she didn't have much time left.

But Percy beat me to Annabeth's room and charged in with his celestial bronze sword only to find Annabeth's body dripping of blood from her leg. Behind her stood her mysterious assassin who was unable to find courage to charge at both Percy and me together and bolted outside from the back door. Something about him seemed very familiar. "Jason, please help her" he pleaded as he set off in pursuit for the assassin with burning fury in his eyes.

Simultaneously, Reyna, Piper and Leo broke through the door like it was made of butter to join me. I asked Piper to go find a doctor while Reyna, Leo and I lifted the lifeless body of Annabeth and placed her gently on the bed. A medic came in a hurry and demanded some nectar which I found in a bag of Annabeth had. He worked for about fifteen minutes cleaning the wound over and over a dozen of times only to be interrupted by Percy rushing into the room giving everyone in the room a minor heart attack. There was pin drop silence in the room, everybody waiting for the outcome of this treachery.

I considered asking Percy if he caught the assassin but looking at Percy, I figured I'd have more response from a stone. Instead, I decided to recall all that I found of the assassin because something about him told me I knew him. So I wrecked my brain to find every small detail of him.

The medic finally spoke up "She is all right. If you took some more time in calling me, she would have been in serious trouble. There was poison on the dagger but it didn't spread past the leg so I could remove it with ambrosia. But she won't be able to walk for the full next week. She has to stay bedridden. A few seconds after the medic left Annabeth stirred and we all smiled and even she managed a weak smile. But now that Annabeth was fine, I thought about the assassin even more and my mind kept telling me that I overlooked something important.

I suddenly struck me. It had to be. The mysterious assassin was Octavian...


	3. Chapter 3 Giants Deadline

Chapter 3 Giants Deadline Annabeth

Someone attempted to kill me and would have succeeded if not for Percy. After the medic left along with Reyna, Piper, Leo and Jason Percy and I were the only one in the room. All I remember was that I struggled to sleep, considering the possibilities for me to get a nightmare or worse, a glimpse of the giants. But Percy insisted I get some rest and there was no way of convincing him.

But finally my exhaustion won, as I got immersed into deep sleep. One second I slowly drifting off to sleep and in the second, a blinding light engulfed everything forcing me to shut my eyes as rigid as possible. When I mustered the courage to open my eyes, I was astonished. In front of me were countless amphitheatres, baths, porticoes and a huge river. The architecture was incredible and miraculous. Dread crept through me as I realised where I was situated. I was in the original Rome.

I felt like I was zapped back to reality. That was when I saw some monsters. Actually, I rephrase myself. Millions of monsters. You might think I'm emphasizing but you're wrong. I'm never wrong and you can hold me to that. Slowly at first but quickly gaining speed, Porphyrion the king of giants rose from the earth only to find millions of monsters waiting for his command. I felt like running. Running as fast as my legs could take me but inside I knew I'd never make it. So instead I waited and listened.

"We shall crush Rome" Porphyrion roared in a horribly strong and persuasive voice.

Every brain cell in my body strained to do as he said but I steeled my nerves and the pain gradually subsided.

"The descendent of Hades/Pluto has proved a lot of help to us. We have kept him with chained and guarded by Polyphemus, Tityus and both the Alodae giants. A trade has been assembled for Hades/Pluto."

Thousand monsters cheered.

Porphyrion silenced them immediately. "Hades/Pluto will have to surrender his realm if he wants to see his son alive. He has only been given 15 days to do so"

Porphyrion laughter boomed through the entire Rome.

"And Alcyoneus will take his position as the king of the underworld."

This time when the monsters started to celebrate, Porphyrion didn't stop them. Almost immediately, I was overrun by monsters.

I sat up abruptly gasping for breath, sweat trickling off my face. Even sitting up hurt but I forced myself. That's when I noticed that Percy was sitting next to me. I started tell him what happened but he cut me off quickly.

"You need rest Annabeth" he said more forcefully than he intended.

But I didn't give up that easily. "This is seriously important Percy" I said stubbornly.

"Well it can wait" he said.

"Percy this is about the Great Prophecy"

"If you don't listen, I'm going to kick your butt!" I exclaimed angrily.

He looked at with disbelief. Then he nodded me to continue. He must have recognised my face and he knew that no matter how much he tried, all his effort will go in vain.

I slowly explained what I saw bit by bit and in great detail so that he could understand properly. He was a good listener and didn't interrupt much probably because he already knew how frustrated I'd get. "This is not good" he said slowly digesting what I said. "If what you are saying is true, then until we claim the doors of death, every giant we destroy will come back. Also, we don't stand a chance against such a big army with only seven demigods" he summed up. "I doubt that the power of both the camps combined can be more than a minor annoyance for the giants" I put together.

Eager to change the topic, I asked Percy if we were flying back to camp half-blood the following day.

"Why" he asked confused.

I didn't call him Seeweed brain for nothing. "Because Rachel (the oracle) is there and it's much closer to Rome too. Besides we need Chiron help and advice "I retorted clearly pleased with myself.

"Well I don't think we can do that" he said guiltily.

"Why" I asked trying to figure out why he was feeling guilty.

"Because tomorrow, Jason and I are going to have to fight for being praetor" he replied. He seemed to be waiting for my response but I didn't have one to give him.

My first thought was anger and shock. How come he didn't ask me before making such a big decision? So what if I wasn't there for him to ask. He should have used his brain and decided not to because their objective was to fight Gaea and definitely not each other. That was when she realised what could happen if he refused to let Jason challenge him for his old position. It could cost them the alliance with the Romans and Gaea would have already won.

"I'll be cheering you on" I managed.

He seemed startled by the answer. He must have probably been expecting me to scream at him, a lot. "Thanks Annabeth" he said.

"Anyway what's the time" I asked with a frown.

"4:00 pm" he said.

"Percy, you're supposed to get some sleep if you want to win" I protested.

I felt really bad keeping him awake so long just to take care of me.

"I just want you to know that you are the sweetest boyfriend ever" I told him before he could leave.

He smiled gratefully and made it all worthwhile.

"Good night Percy" I said happily, thinking how lucky I was to have him.


	4. Chapter 4 Fight for Supremacy

Chapter 4Fight for Supremacy Reyna

Today was the day battle. I was clear in mind that no matter who the victor would be, it would certainly be a hard core battle. As far as I was concerned, I wanted Jason to be triumphant but overall and even if they were observed carefully; nobody could draw conclusions on who was the superior warrior. In sword fighting they were equally matched but Percy had the upper hand because he could make water do his bidding almost tirelessly. The dilemma was that Jason got exhausted quickly when he tried to summon the presence of lightning. On the other hand, Jason could fly, proving a great advantage. Something else I was worried about was that I didn't know Percy does true extend of power.

Before I could get to Jason to wish him a luck, I got distracted by a rising a massive blaze obliterating a building in the city. Dang. Not now I thought as I attempted to think a rescue plan for any citizens. Terminus was screaming his head off which wasn't helping at all. Suddenly I got a brain wave. I looked around frantically trying to find Percy. I silently thanked the gods when I spotted Percy sleepily making his way outside from his house.

"Percy, Percy here" I yelled.

"Yeah, I'm coming "he responded.

His eyes seemed to alert and scanned the crowd. After some time they zero down on me. When he saw me, he moved towards me. We didn't have much time so I explained my plan to him as fast as possible. He agreed without question and set off towards the city. Finally Terminus stopped screaming in panic when he saw Percy approach the city. I observed Percy as he developed a massive tsunami and directed it effortlessly towards the building. The building wasn't getting burnt anymore but there were some citizens still stranded inside.

I cursed I ancient Latin. I forgot about saving them. But Percy didn't wait for a plan. He fearlessly proceeded into the building and guided the citizens outside; and it was just in time. The building collapsed thirty seconds after everyone was safely outside. I stared in awe at the son of Neptune. Whenever someone's life was at stake, he never faltered to try to help them even if his life was at stake. His was too noble, kind and modest to be a Roman but I couldn't think anyone who could beat him in a duel.

The citizens cheerfully thanked Percy. He then made his way slowly towards me only to be stopped by Terminus.

"Nice work Praetor" he exclaimed in relief.

"Thanks" said Percy half heartedly.

He seemed really drowsy today when he was supposed to be well rested.

"Keep up the good work" he said.

Percy walked away without comment.

I was worried about him even though I'd only known him for very less time. "Percy, looks like you didn't sleep well" I said.

"Yeah, I just was over at Annabeth's place last night" said Percy.

"But you should have gotten some sleep when you knew you had this fight today. You want me to change the date" I responded.

"No it's okay" he said.

In a hurry, he explained everything about Annabeth's dream.

"Then you should be leaving as soon as possible" I thought aloud.

"We will probably leave tomorrow" he said.

I sighed. Jason was going on a quest again so quickly. I was hoping for some time with him but time seemed to be against me. "Okay. You go get ready" I said

"Fine. See you" he said.

"Good luck" I told him.

"Thanks" he replied.

He made his way to find his armour while I went after Jason. I found Jason practicing sword fighting against three others. Even though he was outnumbered, they were the ones who were outmatched. Jason quickly stabbed under the first warriors guard. The warrior tried to defend himself but was too slow and received a wicked blow in his stomach. The second and third were much smarter. Instead of attacking at Jason which would leave a lot of openings that Jason would definitely utilise, they defended. Jason seemed to notice their plan but seemed unsure how to get under their guard.

After some time of fighting, it was clear Jason was exhausted trying to fend off the two of them. Then suddenly one of them flew past his partner and knocked his head on the wall. The third was dazed and Jason used that as a chance to captivate him. I smiled at Jason. He won again. I was the only person to have ever bested him at sparring and that was also was because I took a huge risk that I would have never done in a real battle.

"So, you ready" I asked.

He turned towards me with a raised sword. He looked surprised to see me but recovered enough to put the sword down.

"Yeah" he said.

"C'mon, let's go then. I'm curious to see who wins." I retorted.

He smiled and obliged.

When we made our way to the arena specially build today for Jason to fight Percy. When we reached, I noticed that Percy was already waiting eagerly in the stadium. Jason made his way next to Percy and shook hands with him before moving to his position. "I will personally referee this one" I announced.

"Let it begin" I announced.

Jason flipped his coin and put a wicked imperial gold sword while Percy uncapped his pen to reveal his celestial bronze sword. For a second they stood there waiting for the opponent to charge. When Jason continued to wait patiently Percy charged. Jason met the strike in his sword. The next half an hour passed in a blur while neither Percy nor Jason gained the upper hand. The exchanged a series complex blows but none of them seemed to have effect on the latter.

Then Jason used the wind to carry him high up and from there he sent an arch of lightning towards Percy who used the water to defend himself. Actually, Jason's plan was to distract Percy so that his blow would be masked by the lightning and water but unfortunately Percy recognised that move and suddenly... HE BECAME A CYCLONE! Was I dreaming or was he making his personal cyclone! The cyclone engulfed Jason who was unprepared and was stunned.

Jason's sword got lost in the cyclone and left Jason at Percy's mercy. He was weapon less and every Roman looked at Percy in awe. The cyclone stopped. But the match was not won. One of them has to give up or lose consciousness. I was sure Jason would not give up and I still could see the determination in his eyes. Jason tried to regain his sword but it was simply out of reach. Percy didn't have the heart to slash at an unarmed Jason so he used the hilt of his sword and jammed it at Jason's face. Jason fainted.

Percy had won. I ran towards Jason and helped him up. He didn't seem to have recovered but he should be thankful that he fought Percy. He owed a lot to Percy.


	5. Chapter 5 Chip

Chapter 5 CHIP Leo

Percy won. Well, I'd honestly only seen him a couple of times but when he beat Jason; surprisingly, I was happy. I know I'm not a very nice friend especially when he was my best friend apart from drama queen Piper Mc Lean. But lately, after he arrived at camp Jupiter he didn't even talk to me much less visit me. The only thing that kept me occupied and helped me pass time was overlooking my so called siblings' work. Even though they were boring, never cracked jokes, were serious at all times (people I could never make friends with no matter how hard I tried); I had to admit that their inventions were amazing and seriously cool. Not that my inventions weren't.

One of my amazing ones was a metal monkey. Not just any metal monkey. He was made celestial bronze. I would have happily added some imperial gold but the Romans were unwilling to waste their precious metal on some "useless projects". When I insisted, they gave me as little as possible even from the waste. What the heck. I thought both the camps were supposed to compromise. But the cool part of Chip (I had to name him) was that his heart was made of celestial bronze mixed with imperial gold.

At first when I attempted to fuse the two metals, it lead to a nuclear explosion 10 times as strong as Greek fire. Awesome right. The way I survived is a story for some other day. Anyway, I wrecked my brain to find a way to utilise this and turn it into my advantage. That's when I had I brain wave. I decided to fuse a large portion of celestial bronze and imperial gold but this time, before it could explode I coated it with stygian ice. As I guessed, it held but it complicated things a little. My plan was to make Chip's heart with this and when ever in need, I could make a seriously huge nuclear bomb with twice the intensity of a hydrogen bomb. I know, I'm awesome right and all I needed to detonate for me to activate self destruct mode (never going to happen).

The tricky part was making the brain but it was like child play for me with the time and tools. I had to make the walls of the motor sound proof so that it doesn't shatter the heart. I programmed him to only listen to the voice of the seven demigods. I installed a hacking system into his memory; I loaded each of his arms with two AK 47s filled with celestial bronze bullets. He's amazing at sword fighting too because I asked him to observe Jason and Percy's fight. Every move they used was stored in his brain. And the best parts of him are his legs. I loaded them with super strong electro-magnets so he could climb walls, trees and pretty much anything. Plus, I made a shortcut to transform him into a rubric cube at click of a button.

I decided he might come handy in the quest so I decided to beg Annabeth to let him come along. If she refused, I would turn him into a cube and only activate him in my room. We were leaving today but I was in no hurry. Chip did all my packing for me. Thanks to him, I actually wasn't the last one to board the Argo 2. But since Annabeth couldn't walk and Percy was helping her I guess it didn't count. Her leg seemed have healed but she still had difficulty in running (which is very essential for demigods) although she could walk just fine.

After everyone was on board, I made my way to the control center of the ship. I had installed an encrypted code which would take at least a thousand years to bypass and hacking it was impossible. I smiled and proudly looked intently at what I'd achieved and thought what I won't give for my mother to see this. But I didn't let the thought get stuck in my mind. This was my greatest invention and it was awesome.

That's when Annabeth walked in.

"Hey Leo; everything in the ship working fine" she enquired.

"Yeah; all good" I replied nervously. _Come on Leo. It's now or never._

"Why do you look so nervous" she asked curious.

_Why are you so nervous? You're not asking her out or something. And even if she disagrees, you're going to bring Chip along anyway._ "Um Annabeth, can I ask you something" I asked

"Make it quick Leo. I don't have time for this. I've got better things to do than sit around and chat with you" she replied urgently with growing agitation.

"Can I bring Chip along? Please." I asked pleadingly. If anyone else was in Annabeth's place they would have agreed but this was Annabeth. She had to keep her standard.

"Who is Chip? What is he? Is he useful? Why should I agree? How will he help us? Do we need to feed it? Can it fight?" she asked almost instantly.

Gods, why does she have to do that. As if asking one question at a time is going to get us killed. I did the best I could to mask my feelings. Believe me, Annabeth is not someone who want to make angry. You'd probably end up getting your butt kicked in the best case scenario. I you're unlucky, you might be missing some teeth or worse; you'd wouldn't be alive. So I answered in the best possible way I could.

"Chip is a really advanced robotic monkey who can prove to be the difference between life and for us. He has four AK 47 guns, can swordfight amazingly well, and doesn't need any food. He runs on both solar and lunar energy and can recharge from any electrical appliance. He also has a turbo jet and can his speed is faster than the sound barrier. He recognises only my voice and cannot be controlled by anyone else." I explained still praying to Hephaestus that she agreed. Now I figured why I was so nervous. Normally whatever Annabeth anticipated turned out true and if she thought me bring Chip along was bad, then...

"Okay" she said.

Ok I thought. How could it be that easy? I never thought she would give in so fast. I couldn't get sleep thinking how I'd have to convince her and I'd specially prepared a speech for her. Damn.

"Thanks" I said merrily.

"Why" she asked confused.

"I didn't think you would agree so easily" I admitted.

"Well, don' think about it too much. I still have plenty of things in store to make your life miserable" she said looking a bit amused.

Before I could respond in kind, she said "Now start the ship" she commanded. I did so with a sigh.

"This is supreme commander Leo speaking" I said in my mouthpiece.

"We are going to take off. SO SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE RIDE" I screamed.


	6. Chapter 6 Missing

Chapter 6 Missing Annabeth

After a day of boredom, we finally reached camp half blood. We'd already discussed my dream. Everyone seemed uneasy about it especially Hazel the daughter of Hades. I mean Pluto. Anyway, it was clear that we had as much chance of rescuing Nico as a mouse had to outrun a cheetah. Still, it was not as hopeless as everyone considered it. Sure we had to take on four giants at the same time but we were the best people to try.

We are the strongest, best and bravest demigods in the present generation. Percy can breathe underwater, create currents, tsunamis and could create his own cyclone. Jason could control air currents, could fly and could use thunderbolts. Leo could summon fire at his will and could make ingenious machines and also keep our spirits up even at the biggest crisis by this stupid jokes.

Hazel could summon all precious stones which gave us an endless supply of money (being a daughter of Pluto, you had your advantages). Frank, the kid with a chubby face had actually turned out to be a kid of Ares. Sorry, it's Mars. I had never seen descendent of Ares/Mars look so cute. I mean, sure he had huge muscles but his chubby face was so overwhelming that I had to resist the urge to pull his cheeks. He also had the ability to morph into any animal. Cool right. It sounds like a book I once read called "Animorphes".

Then there was Piper the daughter of Aphrodite. I know what you're thinking but unlike her siblings she was quite sensible, not such a big numb skulled head and didn't spend all her time overlooking someone's love life. Plus, she had the ability to charmspeak. It is a rare gift that some Aphrodite children receive which helps them make people do their bidding no matter what it was. Then there was me. It's not like I'm boasting but I'm the best strategist, smartest and always come up with a plan. If not for me, these guys will be long dead.

But when we reached camp half-blood we were in for a surprise. As soon as we passed through Thalia's tree's magical borders we were spotted. Well, it was hard not to be especially when we were on a hundred feet long ship. Peleus the dragon who protected Thalia's tree looked up sceptically at us considering if he should attack or not. That's when he spotted me and a look of relief spread on his face. He knew me really well because I was the one who fed him, brought him up from the baby he was. Now he was almost as big as the ship.

Immediately when we landed the camp alarms buzzed but nobody bothered to attack at a potential threat. Everyone knew about the ship Leo created and waited patiently. Then it struck me what they were waiting for. Percy. I shoved him to the lower deck and the winding of the ship fell down. Hell broke free when Percy stepped outside the side. Everyone went crazy desperately trying to get to him first. Everyone was chanting his name so loud that I felt like I was sitting next to the world's biggest speakers. Many of the Ares campers cursed in Ancient Greek but even they were dazed or even happy to see him. But Percy looked preoccupied and seemed really distracted with something.

I made my way towards him carefully picking my path so that I dodge most of the mess. When I finally reached him, I pulled him away to the corner where nobody was there. Almost everybody protested at the same time but thankfully Chiron silenced them.

"Please campers, keep peace" he ordered.

The crowd quietened but the deafening noise didn't stop altogether.

"All campers get back to normal activities" he announced.

There were a lot of nooo and c'mon and please Chiron silenced them immediately.

"All seven of you, please meet me at the big house" he said and walked away calmly. Slowly at first but soon the crowd cleared away. But before we could head to the big house, we were stopped by Mr D.

"I see you made it back Peter Johnson and Annie Bell." he said.

"It's all because of the training I gave you" he boasted.

"What training?" asked Percy angrily.

I kicked his leg but he didn't seem to notice. This time I nudged him hard. When he looked up I mouthed "say okay" I instructed.

Luckily through gritted teeth he said "Of course Mr D".

Without further delay, Percy walked away from Mr D.

"Percy, calm down" I told him as soon as we covered a safe distance from Mr D.

"Why? He acts like he doesn't know our name after all we have done" he demanded.

"Percy you already have enough enemies. You don't want to get more" I said as calmly as possible.

He was about to say something but he changed his mind.

After some time he said "Sorry Annabeth. I should not have acted that way. I was just stressed" he said.

"It's ok" I responded while my hand slept into his.

Together we made our way to the big house closely followed by the others.

When we reached, we found Chiron who looked really worried. I immediately felt something was definitely wrong. Never in all my years in Camp Half-Blood had I seen him so worried. I walked towards him slowly and asked him what was wrong but he insisted we all stay seated before he said anything. Even when we were sitting, he took some time and hesitantly said "Rachael has been captured".

The words rang in my head. Rachael was captured. I mind immediately burst with millions of questions. If anyone but a child of Athena experienced something like this they would have definitely fainted. But I forced myself to calm down but the grief was overwhelming. She was a really close friend of mine and also was the oracle. Then like bullet the full impact of what Gaea wanted achieve, struck me. They didn't want us to know our prophecy and the little advantage we had was also lost. This quest was not on our favour. We are almost sure to fail.

So much was going through my mind that I didn't realise that someone was shaking my shoulder.

"Annabeth, don't give up hope. If you are to return triumphant you will need all the help you can get. If you are to get to Rome without being pursued by giants, you can't fly all the way there. The giants have lookouts. Immediately stop when Mount Fumaiolo is in reach. Proceed to the Rick Mansion. He will be sure to help you and can aid you with weapons and give some really useful advice."

"But how do we defeat the giants" asked Percy eagerly.

"That is up to you" said Chiron.

"Let's get started" said Jason angrily.

"Let's go" I said.


	7. Chapter 7 Attacked

Chapter 7 Annabeth

Chapter 7 Annabeth

The words rang in my mind like a broken tape recorder. Rachael was gone and once again, a friend of mine was taken away from me. I felt like I was sitting there all day and sobbing like a baby. But yet again time was against us. I knew too well that every moment we wasted brought Gaea closer to her target. Everyone silently walked out of the big house disappointed. But my legs felt weak thinking about Rachael how they would be torturing her. Percy who apparently hadn't left cast a worried glance at me. I tried to say that I was fine but when I tried my mouth choked. I tried to put on a confident smile but I failed miserably.

"Annabeth, are you alright" asked a very worried looking Percy. "I'm fine" I said hoarsely. Percy looked at me unconvinced. I realised he was waiting for an answer but I didn't have one. A part of my brain thought _he looks so cute when he's worried. _Another said _were wasting time. _Before I could decide what to do, Percy put an arm around me and led me to the ship. All the while, I kept thinking how this quest would turn out.

"All aboard" asked Leo's annoying voice.

"Yes" they said half heartedly and I didn't even bother to answer.

"Then let's go" said Leo merrily.

After the bad day, I thought I would get some peace and some time with Percy. But of course, I was wrong. Luckily, Leo had installed WI-FI in the ship so I had something to keep myself occupied. Anything but think about Rachael was fine with me. I read a book, checked out more inventions in Daedalus' laptop, listen to my I-pod but none of them seemed to have any effect. My mind kept wandering back to Rachael. After some time, my drowsiness took over and I feel into a sound sleep.

When I opened my eyes I was in Rome once again. At first a dense fog diverted my view but after it cleared, I saw Rachael Elizabeth Dare in chains! For a split-second, I stood there dumb folded_. How can they chain her? How come the power of Delphi isn't protecting her?_ That's when I realised what they were doing. They were giving her as a sacrifice to awaken Gaea!

Out of nowhere, Porphyrion thundered his way towards Rachael. He held an enormous celestial bronze sword. He swung his sword at Rachael but it was stopped ten centimetres from Rachael's skin. A green flickering light pushed it back. Although the power of Delphi was strong, the power was slowly fading. Rachael had less time. Porphyrion kept swinging his sword again and again but with no avail. I could see the determination in his eyes. Without warning, a telchine pounced towards me from behind and my dream dissolved.

I sat up immediately gasping for air with cold sweat on my face only to find the full ship in total commotion. And in the distance, I could hear Jason and Frank screaming an alarm. Then without warning everything became silent. That's weird. My mind overflowed with possibilities but only three seemed to make sense. Either everyone was captured or that there was a monster and they were waiting not to betray their position or they didn't know where the monster was. I quickly picked up my celestial bronze knife and l held it tight. Just as I was about to take cover behind the bed, I heard a silent_ thud_ on the floor. It was very soft but the monsters heard it.

Eight of them charged towards a very scared looking Hazel. Due to the swiftness of their move, I was unable to recognise them but when they stopped I got a clear look at them. I thought of warning everyone but if I did, they could kill Hazel easily. They seemed bird-like creatures, had long sharp feathers. _What are they Annabeth_ she thought furiously re running through all the Greek myths she'd read.

Just as one of them tried to bite Hazel, she swung her imperial gold sword in a wide arc around herself and luckily the birds backed up a little. Wait. Did it just try to bite her? That means it's a man eating bird. I almost screamed in success when I found it. They were the Stymphalian Birds.

They were a flock of man-eating birds which haunted Lake Stymphalis in Arkadia. Heracles' destroyed them as his sixth labour, employing first a rattle to rouse them from the thick vegetation of the lake, then shooting them down one by one with bow and arrow or a sling. They used their sharp metallic feathers to launch at their victims. Shit. Before I warn Hazel to move, the biggest one shot a feather at Hazel and judging from it looks, it was as sharp as a knife. If that got impaled anywhere critical, it might prove fatal.

I was about to charge at them when two arrows buzzed passed my ears and buried themselves in the neck of the two lead birds. The others were stunned for a second and I used that as an opening but unfortunately they were quick to recover. I delivered a death blow on the first one but the others were prepared. One of them pounced on me but an arrow in its chest.

I risked a quick glance behind my back to see Frank, Percy and Jason but I was awarded with a feather in my leg. Crap. My leg just healed completely and this happens. My leg erupted with pain and my leg threatened to stop working but I forced myself to attend to Hazel. The three boys positioned themselves around me and Hazel making a protective layer.

Hazel who was apparently unconscious was surrounded by a huge puddle of blood. Luckily, the feather had hit her rib cage and hadn't reached her lungs or her heart. I gave her my architectural notebook to bite on while I removed the feather. When I removed it, I swiftly covered it with some cloth that I ripped off the sleeves of my shirt but only after cleaning it with some ambrosia that I pocketed before I went to sleep. Then I gave her some nectar and all the wounds vanished from her body only to leave behind a huge wicked scar. Only then did I attend to my wound.

I quickly consumed some ambrosia and all the pain vanished. Only then did I turn back to look how they were doing. The fight wasn't going well even when there were only two Stymphalian Birds left but they managing really well even with the loss of numbers. They gained a lot of altitude and were firing their feathers continues and every once in a while, a feather would hit one of them. Apparently for Frank, they were out of range so no arrows would work.

Suddenly, Jason took off into the sky. He took advantage of the stunned birds and managed to kill one. The second didn't fall so easily. After a long time, the bird made it's mistake and Jason hopped onto it's neck and it disintegrated. I sighed in relief.

Frank looked at me and asked worriedly "How's Hazel?".

"She's all right but she is unconscious" I informed.

"Thanks" he said and made his way towards her.

I looked at him like he was alien. He, a descendent of Ares was apologising? Hell, maybe Mars was different than Ares after all. I decided I had enough for the day but I remembered I was supposed to take the watch. Damn. I didn't get any sleep. Without further comment, I quickly made my way to the main deck where the lookouts sat.

After about ten minutes, I was joined by Percy. Just my luck. Now he could nag me all night while I had no choice in the matter. But he merely nodded when he saw me. I tried not to get angry and tell myself that this was what I wanted. After sometime, I calmed down. But by then, I was feeling really sleepy. My eyes automatically closed occasionally but forced them to stay open.

"Annabeth, if you're sleepy, you go ahead and take some rest. I'll wake you up in some time" he said.

I would have protested but I really couldn't resist his offer. I smiled at him and he returned the smile.

I casually put my head on his shoulder and slept soundly. Luckily, this time no dreams haunted me.

i

i **Sleep well heroes because tomorrow is not going to be very pleasant.**

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	8. Chapter 8 Practice makes Perfect

Chapter 8 Practice makes Perfect Jason

I woke at the sound of my alarm snatching my sword from the air. I tried to focus on the clock but my sleepiness clogged my vision. Eventually, after some time I could see clearly and looked at the clock. It showed that the time was eight in the morning. Sluggishly; I made my way to the bathroom and leisurely brushed my teeth and put on my purple Camp Jupiter clothes. Then, I walked out of my cabin to join the others. Everyone apart from Hazel was already seated waiting patiently.

"When's it going to start?" I asked sheepishly.

Before anyone answered, Chiron's face appeared in the clearing.

"Good morning demigods" said Chiron as calm as ever.

Everyone returned his greeting together.

"How is the situation there" asked Chiron immediately skipping to the topic instead of exchanging more pleasantries.

"We have covered less land than we expected. The total distance between New York and Rome is 6916 kilometres and we have covered a shade lesser than 700 kilometres. In this rate, we will reach Rome in nine more days leaving us only four days at best to travel through Tiber and rescue Nico." I summed up.

Everyone looked startled by what I said except Annabeth. She spoke after everyone became quiet. "The ship has made slow progress but we have no other alternative. Besides, today we have a several hour head start compared to yesterday" she said confidently. Chiron gave a reassuring nod to Annabeth as if he was encouraging her to say something important. Annabeth seemed worried about something. After some time, she worked up the courage to speak.

"It's about the prophecy right" I said but I immediately wished I didn't.

Annabeth sent me a one her famous death glare which she performed to perfection. I avoided her gaze but still felt totally freaked out.

"Ella, a harpy who Percy found told a part of our prophecy" she announced.

"What exactly did she say. The wording is important." enquired a restless Chiron.

Annabeth took a deep breath and spoke"_ Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the mark of Athena burns through Rome._

Only silence followed. Eager to break the silence, Chiron asked "Any monsters attacked lately"

Nobody volunteered to answer so Piper explained slowly to Chiron on the attack of the monsters. He listened intently to every small detail of what happened.

After Piper was done, Chiron said "How's Hazel doing?"

Frank replied "She's resting in the mini hospital. Although she's healed, she's weak after the fight. Annabeth expects her to heal fully by tomorrow" he said.

Then Chiron waved his hand through the mist and the iris message disappeared. I sighed. This turned out to be way more boring than I expected. I wandered aimlessly around the ship, unsure how to spend my leisure time. I decided to head to the arena thinking of brushing up my skills. There I met a person I least expected. Piper Mc Lean!

"Piper, what are you doing here?" I asked sweetly. She didn't seem to have heard or noticed me so I just stood there and observed her.

She seemed to be trying to use a sword but was holding it in an odd angle and her eyes showed pure concentration. After sometime, she whirled the sword in the air and nearly slashed at my face. I would have been badly maimed if I didn't duck so fast . She looked at me in astonishment noticing me for the first time.

"Hi Piper" I said eventually.

"Jason, did I hit you. I'm so sorry. I didn't see you." She said worriedly.

"I'm fine" I told.

"Piper, are you practicing using a sword" I asked lamely. _Stupid. Obviously she is. What else would she do with a sword in the swords arena?_

"Yeah" she replied.

"You mind if I help cause I have nothing else to do" I asked hopefully.

"Sure. I don't actually know how to do this" she said with a sigh.

I started with the basic steps showing her how to hold the sword, stab, sidestep and roll. Piper was a fast learner and mastered everything I taught her quickly. In about half an hour, we both were drenched in sweat. After I was satisfied with Piper that she could defend herself properly, I challenged her to a fight.

"Piper, I challenge you to a fight" I said nervously not sure how she'd react.

"C'mon Jason. Have you lost your mind? I'm no match for you" she said.

"I'll go easy on you Piper. Besides, you need experience." I told her.

"Fine" she replied.

I made my way ten feet away from her and mirrored her fighting stance. I decided to weaken my blows. Piper charged at me with her sword raised up above her head. Our swords clashed mid-air but Piper used less power in the blow and mine only pushed her backwards which caused her to lose balance. I used it as an advantage and disarmed her and within seconds, my sword was pointed at her neck.

"Piper, you need to have better balance when you are fighting and need to use more force in your blows if you want to gain ground" I instructed.

"Ok, let's try again" I told.

This time she did way better. I stabbed at her twice when she deflected it. However, the third time she was too slow and without intending to I cut a small bruise in her arm. Piper didn't complain or ask for a break or even ambrosia. Instead, she insisted we continue. We practiced the full next hour and Piper had made huge progress. She nearly even beat me once which surprised me as much as it did to her. When she could take no more, I decided it was enough for the day.

Piper and I headed out to the edge of the ship to observe the Atlantic Ocean. Much to my pleasure, the ocean seemed calm and slow. When I turned to ask Piper if she wanted to eat lunch when I realised Piper was scarred all over her body. I hurriedly ran towards the room and scooped the ambrosia from the floor and dashed back to Piper.

Piper looked at me confused when she asked "What's that for".

"You have nasty battle scars all over your body plus your hand is still bleeding" I told her.

She looked at her body and looked at the scars like it was the first time she'd seen them. "Guess I didn't see those" she told.

"Besides, it doesn't even hurt" she told me.

"Piper, take it or I'm going to have to force it down your throat" I said stubbornly.

Piper sighed and listened obediently. She probably knew there was no convincing me around._ How come she knows me so well? _Then Piper started taking about how much she learnt about sword fighting from me. I pretended that I was listening but was actually staring at her eyes._ She looks so beautiful. _I was interrupted by Piper tilting her head towards me realising that I wasn't listening to her.

"Jason, what are you looking at" she asked.

Instead of answering, I leaned in closer to her...when the ship suddenly started to tilt downwards. Dang. I finally work up the courage to kiss her and there's another problem to deal with. I pulled my head backwards and tried to keep a restrain myself blushing but I could feel my cheeks growing hot. _Concentrate Jason._

"Leo, the ship is falling" I shouted.

In the distance I heard a huffed voice say "The engines are failing".

Shit. I quickly wrapped my arms around Piper's waist and willed the wind currents to stop me from falling. It took some effort but I finally managed to keep us both hovering in the air. I hoped that the others survived because the ship was losing altitude quickly.i

i **Schools starting so I'll only update every Friday or Saturday.**

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**Want to know what's happening?**

**Hint: Chip to the rescue.**


	9. Chapter 9 Electrical revival

**THX FOR ALL THE REVIEWS AND SUGGESTIONS GUYS!**

**SORRY ABOUT THE 15 REVIEW THING.**

**I WROTE 8 CHAPTERS AND GOT ONLY 4 REVIEWS**

**SO I GOT FRUSTRATED**

**SORRY GUYS!**

Chapter 9 Frank

I was asleep in my bed when Leo shouted "Evacuate the ship immediately. The engines are failing". I got up alert, and rushed out to get a better view of the problem. There, I saw the ship falling. This was so not happening. What is the problem? I mean every time I try to sleep, something gets in my way. I got up quickly and rushed over to the main deck as fast as a cheetah. I'm not exaggerating. I transformed into one to help me get there faster. There, I saw Leo frantically trying to force the engine to reboot and correct itself.

I clumsily made my way to help the others who seemed as clueless as me about what is happening.

"What do I do" I asked Leo.

"Monitor the height and warn us if we are going under a thousand feet from sea level" he said without bothering even to look at me.

"Fine" I replied silently and scrambled towards the monitors

I was just about to ask him which one he was talking about when I spotted it. I grinned foolishly. This was the first time I saw the engine and I have to admit I was impressed. It was fashioned in such a way that even the dumbest kid could figure out. Percy, Annabeth and Hazel were at different stations also looking tense.

"Where are Jason and Piper?" I asked worriedly.

"I don't know" said a very frustrated Annabeth.

"They probably took off when Leo told us to evacuate" said Percy.

"How much time left" I asked Leo.

"A minute at best" said Leo still entirely focused.

There was silence for ten seconds when Leo stirred.

"How close are we to land?" he asked.

"2000 feet from ground" I said in a hoarse voice.

"You guys have to leave now" said Leo his tone tuning to a dead serious.

"And why should we listen to you" she asked angrily.

"That's because you don't have a choice. I'm the only one who can fix the ship if possible. Even if that doesn't happen, it will be a simple job for Chip to rescue me" said Leo.

"I don't agree. You should come too" insisted Annabeth.

"You don't agree cause I'm right" said Leo. "Fine, we are leaving but you better come out if it can't be done" I told. Then with a swift move, I morphed into a Pegasus and waited for Annabeth and Hazel to climb onto my back. As soon as they were on, I took off into the sky when Percy simply jumped into Atlantic Ocean like it was perfectly normal thing that everybody could do.

At first, I didn't have much of a problem but Annabeth and Hazel seemed to be getting heavier every second. Simultaneously, the ship descended. Without warning, the ship buzzed to life at the last second but it was too late. The ship crashed into the waves and caused a humongous wave so fast that I had no time to react. The wave crashed into my face with so much force that even Porphyrion would have toppled over like a toy.

Water filled my nostrils, suffocating me. I had to act fast or I'd die so in a split second, I transformed into a Hippocammi. But that was when I'd realised what I'd done. Hazel was lucky and didn't fall but Annabeth was plummeting down to the sea at an alarming rate. I strained every nerve to reach her in time but deep inside, I knew it was hopeless. If she was going to die, it was now and it was entirely my fault.

I was so distracted that I didn't notice the dark figure swirling in the sea. And then she fell, but surprisingly her body was floating in a whirlpool. I seemed to be pulling her in. With one look of the scene, I knew who it was. It was Charybdis... the sea monster whose inhalations caused whirlpools. Before I could go and try to save her, I heard a voice say _Frank, don't go in or you can't come out. _I looked around confused, to see who spoke when I realised it was in my head. _It's me Percy _said the voice again. I admit, it was seriously freaky with Percy in my head. It felt like he could read all my thoughts (I found out later that it was true) and I was powerless compared to him.

_Frank, listen carefully _he said.

_I'm going to go in and throw Annabeth out ok but be ready to scoop he u p when she comes._

_But how are you going to come out._

_I have a plan but _you _be ready to catch her at a moment's notice _he instructed.

_Ok _I said.

I waited for a second and suddenly, Percy shot out of the water like a rocket and landed exactly where Annabeth was and made the water push her out so fast that Charybdis didn't have time to react. She soared in the air until I caught her. Relief flooded my face but I knew that it wasn't over. I looked back to find Percy transform into a cyclone and force a way out of Charybdis. Charybdis, who was already enraged because of Annabeth surviving, let out a horrible blood curdling sound that made wish I didn't have ears rather than listening. Taking the chance as an opening, Percy hurled the Riptide like a javelin towards Charybdis' head. When it struck, Charybdis released a roar even worse than the one before as she disintegrated.

I was about to celebrate when I saw Jason frantically trying to awaken Leo on that metal monkey.

"Help, I don't think Leo's heart is beating" he said worriedly. I took one look at Jason and I knew keeping Piper and himself aloft weren't easy. So I changed in to a huge killer whale this time but I was careful not to drop Annabeth or Hazel who seemed fine. Jason and Piper landed on me and quickly pulled Leo on me from the stupid metal monkey. After Leo was down on me (amazing song), it simply turned into a rubric cube.

"He is not breathing" Piper confirmed. "Piper, blow air into his mouth" Annabeth instructed.

"Why don't you do it cause I'm feeling dizzy" she asked lamely. It was kinda obvious didn't want that she didn't want to put her mouth on Leo's. Annabeth also refused and so did Hazel when Percy came. Even he refused.

"Guys time is running out and we need to save him. Please decide quickly who's going to do it. Is there any other way to save him?" asked Jason.

"We need electric tongs which we don't have" said Annabeth.

Luckily for Leo, Percy had an idea. "Jason, you can give pretty good electric shocks can't you" he said.

"Good idea seaweed brain" Annabeth said sarcastically. "Let's just roast him alive" she said angrily.

"There's no harm in trying. Besides, we have no other choice" he said. Before, Annabeth could say anything, Hazel said "Percy's right. We have to try". Annabeth sent her one of her death glares but didn't object when Jason knelt next to Leo. Then he placed his hand where Leo's heart should be and did it. For a second, I almost thought that it didn't work but Leo slowly opened an eye. Thank god.

When Leo was up, Hazel was in charge of him while the others decided held a meeting.

"How are we supposed to proceed from here? I doubt Frank can keep this up for more than a day" said Percy.

"We can ask Leo to fix the ship" said Hazel.

"It'll take too long" said Annabeth.

"I can call upon some Hippocammi to take us for the rest of the ride" said Percy. No one objected so it was decided. In a matter of seconds, seven bright Hippocammi dived out of the water. After everyone climbed onto their Hippocammus, I changed into an eagle and flew to mine. Before we set off, Percy threw some ambrosia as an offering to Poseidon. In return, he prayed for the ship to return to camp half-blood.

Then we all rode in silence towards Rome.

**THANX AGAIN FOR ALL THE REVIEWS AND SUGGESTIONS.**

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	10. Chapter 10 Rome sweet Rome

**HOPE U GUYS LIKE IT!**

Chapter 10 Annabeth

The next few days passed without incident except when some sharks started swimming towards Jason's Hippocammi. Jason was petrified in fear and stood frozen where he was, not daring to move. When I laid my eyes on them, I realised what they were and immediately my Hippocammi veered to away from them at my command. Sharks can sniff blood from a mile away and they get uncontrollable when they smell it.

Percy swerved his Hippocammi and brought it in front of the sharks and me. Most likely, he did the 'son of sea god thing' cause the sharks disappeared into the sea. After about an hour, they reappeared with some fish for us to eat. We all hogged on the food like we had never seen food before but we were seriously hungry. What do you expect from seven kids who didn't eat food for the last three days?

The fish was raw and tasted horrible. In normal circumstances, I think I would have puked by now. Despite the horrible taste, I ate it gratefully not sparing even the tiniest part. We all ate in silence and Piper was the first to puke followed by Jason. Quit laughing cause that stuff was nasty...awfully nasty. Thank the gods you didn't have to eat it.

Again for the next few days, nothing major took place until we finally reached Rome. The moment I stepped foot into Rome, I felt giddy and nearly fell head first on the ground. If Percy didn't catch me, I would have attained a foul wound on my head even without a monster after me. Gods, what is wrong with me? It's as if Rome was draining all my energy from me. I looked over my back to find Percy, Leo and Piper in similar conditions.

On the other hand, Jason, Frank and Hazel looked refreshed. Great. They get all the advantage cause its home turf for them. Percy kindly thanked all the Hippocammi and they seemed extra pleased. I was certain that we wouldn't survive if we continued without food so I decided to find a restaurant.

"We need to get food and provisions if we want to continue or we don't stand a chance" I claimed.

"Annabeth's right. I don' think we stand a chance against any monsters without food and provisions. Besides, I'm starving" agreed Jason.

"So it's decided. We go pick up some food first" said Percy.

"But we are short of cash. I don't think we can pay for the food. We lost all our money on the blasted ship" said Frank irritated.

"What do you think I'm for" said Hazel grinning wickedly.

"Good idea Hazel" I said cheerfully. Of course, how can I forget? Hazel can pull out precious stones from thin air.

"Okay. You go with Piper and get some money fast" I instructed.

"I'm going to Iris message Chiron and Jason I think you have to inform camp Jupiter too about our progress" I told. He nodded sagely, not looking very comfortable with the idea.

Before we left, I gave the others their work.

"Frank and Leo. You guys try to find directions for Rick Mansions" they agreed and left.

"Percy, you just go and order some food for all of us" I said.

"I don't have money" he said.

"Just wait for Hazel and Piper. They will bring the money" I told.

Without reply, he walked towards Burger King. Now that everyone had work, I concentrated on making a rainbow. I found an empty car wash centre and decided it was fine. I picked up a hose pipe and threw a drachma into the air. Then I said "Iris, please except my offering. Please show me Chiron of Camp- Half blood. The air shimmered and altered to show Chiron.

"Annabeth, why haven't you Iris messaged me before? I take it you have reached Rome" he said.

"Yeah, we have. Well, things didn't go well on our way here. Argo 2 malfunctioned. And then it crashed into the sea".

I thought he would be surprised that it malfunctioned but he wasn't. Never in my life had I caught him off guard. Damn he expected everything. Surprising him was almost impossible. I tried not to dwell on it but Chiron always seemed so unaffected by emotions.

"If that is so, they already know you are coming. It is best you proceed to Rick immediately" he said.

I thanked him for his help as the Iris message dissolved. Then I tossed a drachma at Jason and gestured him to proceed. He looked uneasy but he did as I said. An image of surprised looking Reyna appeared in front of me almost immediately. When she saw Jason, she looked like the weight of the sky was taken off her shoulders (I speak from personal experience).

"Hey Reyna" said Jason.

"Did you reach Rome yet? Did you encounter any monsters? Did anybody die? " she asked.

"Yes. Yes. No. We did reach Rome even after the ship crashed. WE reached at about the same time as we estimated. We encountered some monsters but nobody died" he summed up.

"Did you make any progress?" she asked.

I decided to join Percy food store partly because I was starving and partly because Reyna looked like she wanted to talk to Jason alone.

"Jason, you go ahead and tell her everything. I going to go check on Percy and make sure he didn't mess anything up" I said.

Reyna looked at me gratefully and I smiled. I quickly exited the place and retraced my steps to Burger King. There I saw something totally unexpected...and totally boiled up my anger. Percy was getting kissed by some random girl on his cheeks. How dare he? Percy pulled away quickly before anybody could see and looked around furiously looking for anyone he knew. When he saw me, his face turned into a big _oh-oh_.

I was so going to bust his sorry butt. _He is so dead today_ I thought. I stormed into the shop, my intention of killing him. But I did something even more stupid.

I kissed him full on the lips before he could react. He stared at me in surprise like that was the last thing he expected me to do. The other girls sitting next to Percy sent glares at me but I didn't even bother to look back at them. After some time, they left .I slid next to Percy and started munching away my food like nothing ever happened. Instead of eating his food, he started to stare at me which was kinda annoying.

"What?" I snapped.

"Nothing" he said with a huge lop sided grin spreading across his face.

We started eating again and were shortly joined by Hazel and Piper laughing unmanageably.

When they reached, they put five thousand dollars on the table. They each pulled a chair for themselves and started eating without comment. Jason was next looking very restless but he too started eating immediately. Leo and Frank only arrived when almost all of us were done eating.

"We can get a bus from here to a place only 2 kilometres from Rick Mansions. The bus leaves at one in the afternoon. Now the time is a quarter past eleven so we have plenty of time before the bus" said Leo.

"How much does each ticket cost?" I asked.

"About 8 dollars per head" said Frank.

"Ok, good work. You guys better eat now cause we are not stopping any other time to eat" I told.

They looked at the food like it was the first time they saw it and they both grabbed their food. After they were done, we made our way to the bus station. We paid and got in early. Consider we had nothing to do, I told Percy to wake me up in an hour if anything went wrong and took some rest.

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	11. Chapter 11 Street fight

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Chapter 11 Piper

The bus ride was supposed to take three hours. I got bored to death and like many demigods, I had ADHD which made it worse. I mean, even fighting monsters was way better than sitting around and hatching eggs (It's a figure of speech. It doesn't mean that they literally hatched eggs). So Leo and I decided to exchange jokes to pass time. All Leo's jokes were hilarious but none of them made sense. One particularly good one made me laugh so loudly that nearly everyone in the bus was looking at me sceptically with a look plastered on their face saying Are you retarded?

But that just compelled me to laugh louder. Accidently, I put power into my voice and everybody in the bus burst out laughing. Chaos spread into the bus and everybody in the bus fell on the floor laughing. Charm speaking was probably weaker on demigods compared to mortals because they seemed rather fine comparatively. The bus violently tilted to the right which sent everyone flying uncontrollably to the other side.

I would have crashed onto the wall if it wasn't for Jason. Out of the blue, a strong wind blew and the bus corrected itself. When I recovered enough from shock, I quickly turned to see what had caused the reaction. A metre away from the driver's seat lay the driver laughing like an idiot. Oh Gods. This is so no happening.

Before the bus could suffer any more from dangerous turns, I jammed the breaks .Just as the bus stopped; I hopped off the bus and ran straight into some buildings under construction assuming they would follow. I didn't know where the hell they went cause I waited for a good half an hour and nobody came after me. I retraced my steps back to the bus only to find nothing there.

I tried hard to concentrate and think what I should be doing in such a situation but nothing appealed to me. I was stuck in a construction site alone with no mortal cash or drachmas or food. The only thing I had was some ambrosia which Annabeth advised that we keep with ourselves at all times. With no other option I decided to go back to the construction site since it was the best place to keep a safe distance from monsters. I found a stool and sat down at and neatly laid down my ambrosia.

Nobody seemed to be around the site so I decided it was probably a weekend for them. Then, I thought of my plan. I decided to go outside and charmspeak someone into lending me their car and driving to Rick Mansions. Just near the entrance of the gate, a group of gangsters were seriously discussing something. They didn't see me me so I decided to slip past them without them noticing. Everything went smoothly until one of them cocked his head behind him to see if anyone was overhearing them. The moment I saw them, I knew there was trouble.

I tried to charm speak him and tell all of them continue with their work.

I opened my mouth to say something but when I saw the earphones all of them were wearing, my heart sank. They all surrounded me before I could make a run for it.

"So missy. You heard all we said huh" a bulky one said who probably their leader.

"I hate to say it but we have to kill you" the second guy said.

"The police won't let us go if they figure out that we killed Max" another said.

"I didn't hear anything" I said as innocently as possible but it didn't seem to have any effect. I tried to put power into my words but they didn't seem to be listening.

They kept moving closer to me as I pulled out my knife. All of them stooped dead in their tracks.

It was my turn to laugh wickedly. But my smile melted when the lead one pulled out a pistol from his pocket.

"Surrender and put the knife down" he said amused. The others smirked at me scarily and I had no choice but to listen. He positioned his pistol right in front of my head. I was shit scared and started crying hysterically.

"Shut up" he ordered as he put the gun into my mouth. At this point, I was shivering with fear but I managed to stop wailing. I thought I was a goner. After killing a giant, rescuing my father from it, saving Hera I die in the hands of a stupid mortal gangster. My life sucked.

Out of the blue, a strong hand whacked the gun away from my face. I looked up to see Jason in action. Damn he was angry. The lead gangster was already on the floor unconscious with a broken hand. The other three were dazed too. Jason kicked a guy in his sensitive point (ouch) and punched the other on the nose. The both fell on the floor in agony. The last on looked at Jason and then on his friends. After that, he ran without looking back.

"Are you okay Piper" he asked worriedly.

I tried to say yes and believe me I tried hard but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself to stop crying.

I ran into Jason's arms without knowing and cried my heart out. He didn't resist and let me cry onto his T-shirt. He spoke soothing words which eventually calmed me down. When I finally calmed down, I found everybody else waiting for me. Many embarrassing things had happened in my life but this was far the worst. I was just wasting valuable time on nothing. When Annabeth looked at me, her expression softened a little.

"Let's move to Rick mansions. We must be attracting a lot of monsters here so it's best we continue there" she said.

"If Piper is ok, even I think we have to proceed" said Percy. I merely nodded but Percy saw it and he lead the way there.

We walked for about twenty minutes until Rick mansions was spotted by Hazel. I had personally seen some amazing looking mansions this was far the best. Before I could comment on its beauty, Leo, Hazel and Annabeth gasped.

"It's the most awesome mansion I've ever" said Leo dreamily.

"It has so many security systems that it would take at least hundred years to bypass it" said Leo happily.

"Its architecture is amazing. I don't think that even hundred elephants will be able to knock it down. And the statues are beautiful and it's decorated amazingly' said Annabeth probably thinking of getting a blueprint so that she could add a part of it to Olympus.

"It has more than a hundred tons of gold. This guy is definitely rich" she said.

"Let's just go in" I said suddenly felling something was wrong. Jason noticed it too and looked at Percy for conformation. Percy felt it too.

There was something definitely wrong about this place.

"I think we should check the place before we proceed into it. It could be a perfect trap" I said.

"Why would Chiron lie to us" Annabeth asked.

"It's possible he didn't know about monsters waiting for us outside here" I said.

A strange voice hissed "Smartttt girlll".

I turned around just in time to see hundreds of dracaenas coming towards us.

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